Introduction: Boot and Glove Drying Rack

By www.facebook.com/dan.stoudt
About: Steward to about 20,000 trees on 40 acres.

When we come in during the winter with wet, snowy shoes or boot and wet gloves, they are removed on the enclosed porch and are then piled on a drip tray by a floor register inside to dry. We heat the house with an indoor wood furnace that shares ducting with the oil backup and the circulation fan runs most of the time. Even then the shoes, boots and gloves don't always dry before we want to put them on again. A rack speeds up the drying process.

The first picture shows the "before". The second picture shows the drip tray and the baseboard diffuser that vents the warm air to do the drying. I used some pallet wood to construct a frame to fit inside the tray. The third picture shows the assembled frame, drilled to accept the 1/2" dowels that will hold the wet gloves and footwear. The last picture is of the drying rack in place and in use.

MATERIALS

2 pc 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" x 24" ( this is heavy duty pallet wood)

2 pc. 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" x 12"

8 pc. #10 x 2" hex head pole barn screws

2 pc. 48" x 1/2" wooden dowel

TOOLS

Saw

Electric drill

1/2" drill bit

1/8" drill bit

Hex driver for #10 pole barn screws

Rasp, file or sandpaper

Hammer

HOW TO DO IT

  1. Measure your tray.
  2. Measure and cut the four frame pieces to fit your drip tray
  3. Lay out the frame with the short pieces on the bottom and long ones overlapping on top. Use a piece of newspaper as a guide to "square" if you don't have a real carpenter's square.
  4. Drill two 1/8" pilot holes for screws at one corner. See picture 3 or 4.
  5. Install the screws.
  6. Recheck "square" and drill two more pilot holes. Install those screws.
  7. Repeat for the other two corners of the frame.
  8. I marked the dowel holes starting 2" from each end of the 24" piece and then every 4". See picture 3.
  9. Making sure to keep the drill vertical, drill 1/2" holes 3/4" deep for the dowels.
  10. Determine how long you need the dowels to be. Mine are 2 @ 15", 2 @ 11" and 2 @ 8".
  11. Cut the dowels to length and use the rasp, file or sandpaper to round off the tops.
  12. Tap the dowels into the holes with the hammer. Once you are sure you like the length and positions, you can glue them if you want.
  13. Sign and date your project.
  14. Put your drying rack to work.